Oil can drain stand



June 1952 s. c. HOFACER OIL CAN DRAIN STAND Fild Sept. 30, 1947 2SHEETS-SHEET 1 0 mm M N! E0. W m [a m 0 .fl 0

Y B 4 L? L J1me 1952 s. c. HOFACER OIL CAN DRAIN STAND 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2Filed Sept. 30, 1947 I INVENTOR. J/mm C flofac'ep BY Patented June 17,1952 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE OIL CAN DRAIN Simon 6. noiac s oda.Mich- Application September 30, 1947, Serial No. 7 16,949

5 Claims- (Cl. 2.22412) This in ention elat s o oi dra n a ds such asserve to sa age re idual oi from an after the main body of he r co tentsas been dis ar ed. Due to ts -viscos ty,amater a quantity of oil adheresto the interior surface of a can after pouring out the bulk of itscontents, and

c q an y m y e sa v g d y th o h P a vertical cylinder, apertured toallow oil to drain into such cylinder, the cylinder surmounting acabinet receiving a vessel to accumulate salvaged oil, and beingrotatable on Such cabinet to faciliate. access o a y d s d can su p rThese and. arious other o jects a attained by the constructionhereinafter described and illust ated in the c mpanyin drawin s,wherein;

Fig. l is a top plan view of my improved drain stand.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the stand taken on the line 3-3of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional View taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on the line '5-5 of Fig.4.

Fig. 6 is an elevational view of the upper portion of the rotatablecan-mounting cylinder, showing one of the arcuate slits therein.

In these views the reference character I designates the vertical walls,2 the top, and 3 the bottom of a rectangular cabinet preferably of sheetmetal construction, having a. reinforcing interior angle bar frame 4.The four uprights of the frame are downwardly extended sufliciently toelevate the cabinet a convenient distance. One wall of the cabinet isequipped with a door or doors 5 (two being shown) which permit anopen-topped vessel 6 to be inserted to receive salvaged oil. Centrallyformed in the top 2 is a large circular opening 1 through which atubular shaft 8 is vertically extended. Upper and lower spaced bearings9 and Ill rotatively mount the shaft, the hearing In being cup-shapedand forming a seat for the lower end of the shaft. The bearing 9 issupported by four arms ll occupying a diagonal relation to the cabinet,said arms being contiguous with the top 2, therebeneath, and

ateria y i r asing the loadcapac ty of the trip.v he bearing illscarried by four arms 1 which extend upwardly and outwardly from saidcollar o the arms l.l;.,,straddling th t e P eierably th end o nectionso th a ms 1.! an 12 are formed by weldin and the preferred an le of hearms 2 to th cab e s is forty-five derees e shaft 8. lie at t e axis ofand gid y carries a vertical c linder is formed preferably of s eet metad havi g p eferab y su stantia ly the same-diameter as th openi g I. Theupp r nd of th s es-ft i r gi ly s cured to t e cylinder by four arms l4and a similar set of arms W ri dl nnec th lower e d of h r closelyapproaching the cabinet op and closely urr und ng n annula dus e e iiigidly carried by said top at the margin of the openns A d s -exc udingcap ia removably seats a t e topi the cylinder- Bigidly secured to thecylinder 13 and 911twardly projecting therefrom at an upward inclinationare several rows of vertically spaced, trough-shaped supports ll for oilcans, such as indicated at 18, there being four such rows in theillustrated construction at ninety degree intervals. The upwarddivergency of said supports from the horizontal is preferably aboutthirty degrees. The radius of curvature, imparting trough form to saidsupports, is preferably slightly greater than that of a standard quartoil can. At the inclined central axis of each support H, the cylinder 13is formed just above the support with an oil flow opening l9. In thepreferred manner of mounting the supports on the cylinder, the latter isformed with arcuate slits 20. the supports being inserted in such slitsand then soldered in place with a resultant high degree of rigidity.Preferably the troughs project at their inner ends slightly into thecylinder so that oil dripping from such ends may clear the cylinderWall.

In use of the described stand, when oil cans have been emptied of themain body of their contents they are disposed, as illustrated on thesupports H, with their open ends abutting the cylinder. Residual oil inthe cans may thus gradually seep out and flow through the apertures I9to finally drip into the vessel 6. While the salvage of oil thuseffected from each can is small, the aggregate in the course of a daymay be considerable, particularly at a busy service station. Themounting of the can supports on the rotatable cylinder I3 is animportant time and labor saving feature, permitting any row of thesupports to be quickly swung to the most accessible position. Any ofsaid supports may serve as a handle for imparting rotation to thecylinder. It will be observed that the cylinder with its can supportsand shaft forms a complete assembly adapted for operative mounting onthe cabinet by merely inserting the shaft 8 in the bearings 9 and I0.

What I claim is:

l. A stand for draining liquids from cans, comprising a hollow memberhaving a vertically elon- 4 hollow member mounted on said shaft androtatable about the shaft axis, and having a vertically elongatedannular wall, said opening being covered by the lower end of said hollowmember, and a plurality of supports for liquid containers exteriorlymounted on said wall and forming horizontally spaced vertical rows, thewall having a drainage opening associated with each support fordelivering liquid into the hollow member from a container on saidsupport.

4. In a stand for draining liquids from their containers as set forth inclaim 3, said position- 'ing means comprising arms carried by thecabigated annular wall, a pluralityof horizontally spaced rows ofvertically spaced can supports projecting rigidly outward from saidhollow member at an upward inclination and each having a trough form,said wall being formed with a p1u-= rality of slits respectivelyreceiving the respective can supports and conforming to the trough shapeof such supports being apertured above and within each can supportsubstantially at the axis of inclination of such support to allow a flowof liquid, draining from supported cans, into the hollow member, andmeans for supporting said hollow member at an elevation to admit aliquid salvaging vessel beneath such member.

2. In a stand for draining liquids from cans as set forth in claim 1,means for mounting the hollow member for rotation about its verticalaxis, to present any of said rows of supports to an attendant.

3. In a stand for draining liquids from their containers, thecombination with a cabinet and a vessel therein for receiving a drainedliquid, such cabinet having a top formed with an opening, of asubstantially vertical shaft mounted on the cabinet and upwardlyprojecting from the cabinet at the approximate axis of said opening, astep bearing mounting the lower end of said shaft and disposed abovesaid vessel within the cabinet, and positioning means for said bearindownwardly extending from the cabinet top, a

net top marginally of the opening of such top.

5. In a stand for draining liquids from their containers, a cabinethaving a top formed with a substantially central opening, asubstantially vertical shaft at the axis of said opening, an upper and alower bearing for such shaft, the lower bearing providing a support forthe shaft, a plurality of arms reinforcing the cabinet top and extendingsubstantially into said opening and supporting the upper bearing, aplurality of arms extending convergently downward from the margin ofsaid opening and supporting the lower bearing, a hollow member mountingon the shaft and rotatable about the shaft axis, and a plurality ofcontainer supports exteriorly carried by the hollow member, the hollowmember being apertured in proximity to each support to deliver drainingliquid into such member.

SIMON C. HOFACER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 637,963 Howard Nov. 28, 1899932,931 Wilhnann Aug. 31, 1909 2,059,997 Kaestner Nov. 3, 1936 2,071,944Hoffman Feb. 23, 1937 2,337,292 Champion Dec. 21, 1943 2 369,982Richards Feb. 20, 1945

